Canadian Milos Raonic continued his clay-court education with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 defeat to Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the first round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday.
It was the second time in 72 hours that the 20-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., had been beaten by a Spaniard. Raonic had previously pulled out of an Estoril Open semifinal against Fernando Verdasco with back pain.
Raonic, ranked 25th in the world, will now have a chance to recover before jumping back into the grinding run-up to the May 22 start of the French Open. He is due to play in Rome at another Masters 1000 event that begins Sunday.
The Canadian lost in two hours three minutes to the experienced and dangerous lefty Lopez, who was playing in the comfort of his hometown.
Raonic finished with a respectable 23 aces, but his big serve was not enough to keep him out of trouble against Lopez in the first meeting between the pair.
Raonic now stands 23-9 after starting his fourth consecutive week on clay -- the first campaign of his career on the surface at the elite ATP level.
